[Meta thread] Iron's PokeRole Adventure: The Skull Ruins

[PhantomUnderYourDesk]

Ah, sounds like you won't get completely blocked out of the Game during our infiltrating then. That's perfect! ^_^

On the other hand, if Terra DOES get roped into helping out, it probably be best as a reserve/backup unit that will come rushing in to the rescue, in case Stealth/undercover work gets botched. He'd most likely wait on the Route nearest to the base in some sort of disguise (He's an Old Contest Preformer, so he has some cosmetics that make it difficult for his regular self to be recognized) doing training/fishing in the meantime, then come to aid the group if needed by either brute forcing his way through or acting as a distraction to divide the Scims/Almanac's attention. He'd probably appreciate a Teleporter on hand if he remains outside to do the second, in case he needs to scram, but he could always resort to other means of getting away if need be....

That's what I meant by 'coverage from outside', right: Staying outside relatively near to Almanac's (but not too near that it'd be suspicious), acting as an innocent Trainer but being aware where the others are, ready to come for help with or without backup if the party isn't back after an agreed time period. I'd be very up to loan you Helios to have a Teleport User on hand as I don't plan to bring him along, but I'm not too sure whether he'd listen to you given an Alakazam's natural disobediance - Iron, would you say Helios would obey Terra's teleport commands if Shiva would explain the reasons why she'd desire him to do so? It's also healthy for Psychic Types to be exposed to other Trainers every few and then, could matter.
EDIT: Yesss, thank you!

If we indeed agree on Terra acting as such a backup, assume that Shiva met up with him that evening to explain everything to him and ask him to be the backup - it doesn't really have to played out I guess, and I don't have time to type that up either.

[Iron]

Yes, Helios will obey.

[Dragonstrike]

For exploring the region, you're getting close to a power level where you can just sweep in, ignore all obstacles, and just have a good time!

I-I don't think my chara's that strong!! :o Sweeping and OHKO'ing everything is also boring because it's no challenge.

I think it's more that even the wild pokemon just wouldn't want to mess with us once we progress enough.  We wouldn't necessarily OHKO everything that we ran in to, it's just that we'd run into a lot less unless we specifically seek stuff out.

Shiva also deserves some credit for what she's accomplished, in my opinion.  She has 4 gym badges, two of which are some of the hardest ones to obtain in the region, right?  She can be a force of nature in her own right if she puts her mind to it.

[Dragonstrike]

(Does Rotom obey commands without a roll? My memory's saying no, but it's shaddy. Sorry if I can't remember clearly!)

1 Loyalty, 3 Disobedience, so unless he is perfectly happy with being ordered to cause a little mischief alongside Porygon-Z, no.

I honestly wasn't expecting this infiltration mission to come up so soon, so I haven't managed to bond with Pulse as much as I was hoping to by the time I might have needed the Rotom's unique abilities.  (In fact, thinking about it, I haven't really done much with it at all.)

[Spiritmon]

Well, there still a little thing I might need to do before head towards the next day in game.

Oh... Care to share what it is? Or in other words, I guess you can agree or disagree on my suggestion to meet up at the shack the next morning and then get to that.


Shiva practically just needs to buy some meds for added security and swap her party to be ready, she'll likely even sleep over in Cress City directly.

No need to worry about that. Just a little conversation with Koa, next game buy some healing items and swap my party. Nothing who will damage our infiltration mission.

[Dragonstrike]

Lemme just answer some of your movelist questions ahead of time, @Spiritmon.

- Poison Jab isn't on the Axew line's listings at all in the book, and is only available for teaching if Iron says you can do so.

- Iron Tail isn't listed for the Axew line in the book either, but...if you remember, there was a Steel type move tutor the first time we visited Route 04, and they could teach Iron Tail to a large variety of pokemon...provided you had the funds for it, that is.  It was kinda expensive, but it's how Calam (and Mamo and Lucifer) learned Iron Tail, despite the move not being on Absol's list in the book.  The problem: you'd have to track that move tutor down since they might not be on Route 04 any more.  Aside from that method, though, you'd need GM approval for move compatibility.

- Hidden Power is a near universal TM, so it's compatible automatically.  However, it's also a really rare TM from what I understand.  People who can automatically tell what a pokemon's Hidden Power do are also few and far between, as that particular skill is borderline supernatural because of how varied Hidden Power is in Pokerole.  (if you think about it, it also adds a whole new meaning to 'breeding for Hidden Power' in the context of the Pokerole universe...getting it to be the correct type is one thing.  Getting the desired effects is probably another entirely, if not outright/almost impossible!) I'm not sure we'll see a Hidden Power diviner in this campaign (as I doubt Iron wants to type out what every single pokemon's Hidden Power can do when they can vary enough to be entirely unique to every single individual.)

- Draco Meteor is only on Haxorus's movelist in the book, and can thus only be learned after Koa is fully evolved by Iron's rules for this campaign unless Iron says otherwise. (which was established awhile ago)  If you hadn't noticed, almost all Dragon types that have Draco Meteor listed got this treatment, only having DM listed after becoming fully evolved (Gible and Gabite are the sole exceptions to needing to be fully evolved to learn the move, and the only non-Plot Deviced, fully evolved Dragons that don't have it listed are Dragalge, Tyrantrum, Druddigon, Turtonator, Drampa, and Alolan Exeggutor).  Draco Meteor kinda got the same treatment the elemental Hyper Beams did as a result.  Access to that move is kinda plot deviced as well since you need a very special move tutor to be able to teach it.  And on top of that, there's the whole Happiness/Loyalty requirement that needs to be fulfilled, too...if a pokemon needs Loyalty equal to or greater than its Disobedience to learn the move (same as the elemental Hyper Beams), Koa would need the full 5 Loyalty to learn the move with Haxorus's default 5 Disobedience.

[Spiritmon]

Spoiler

Lemme just answer some of your movelist questions ahead of time, @Spiritmon.

- Poison Jab isn't on the Axew line's listings at all in the book, and is only available for teaching if Iron says you can do so.

- Iron Tail isn't listed for the Axew line in the book either, but...if you remember, there was a Steel type move tutor the first time we visited Route 04, and they could teach Iron Tail to a large variety of pokemon...provided you had the funds for it, that is.  It was kinda expensive, but it's how Calam (and Mamo and Lucifer) learned Iron Tail, despite the move not being on Absol's list in the book.  The problem: you'd have to track that move tutor down since they might not be on Route 04 any more.  Aside from that method, though, you'd need GM approval for move compatibility.

- Hidden Power is a near universal TM, so it's compatible automatically.  However, it's also a really rare TM from what I understand.  People who can automatically tell what a pokemon's Hidden Power do are also few and far between, as that particular skill is borderline supernatural because of how varied Hidden Power is in Pokerole.  (if you think about it, it also adds a whole new meaning to 'breeding for Hidden Power' in the context of the Pokerole universe...getting it to be the correct type is one thing.  Getting the desired effects is probably another entirely, if not outright/almost impossible!)  I'm not sure we'll see a Hidden Power diviner in this campaign (as I doubt Iron wants to type out what every single pokemon's Hidden Power can do when they can vary enough to be entirely unique to every single individual.)

- Draco Meteor is only on Haxorus's movelist in the book, and can thus only be learned after Koa is fully evolved by Iron's rules for this campaign unless Iron says otherwise. (which was established awhile ago)  If you hadn't noticed, almost all Dragon types that have Draco Meteor listed got this treatment, only having DM listed after becoming fully evolved (Gible and Gabite are the sole exceptions to needing to be fully evolved to learn the move, and the only non-Plot Deviced, fully evolved Dragons that don't have it listed are Dragalge, Tyrantrum, Druddigon, Turtonator, Drampa, and Alolan Exeggutor).  Draco Meteor kinda got the same treatment the elemental Hyper Beams did as a result.  Access to that move is kinda plot deviced as well since you need a very special move tutor to be able to teach it.  And on top of that, there's the whole Happiness/Loyalty requirement that needs to be fulfilled, too...if a pokemon needs Loyalty equal to or greater than its Disobedience to learn the move (same as the elemental Hyper Beams), Koa would need the full 5 Loyalty to learn the move with Haxorus's default 5 Disobedience.

Understood. Might try to go after that Iron Tail move tutor in route 4 when the mini-plot about the rescue be resolved later, even with less chance in find that guy. And also the fact I only have 1k of Pokedollars with me. I hope I get a chance to find a way to get some of my money back.

Also, to speed the plot Heart have send a message to Terra, since we dont have any idea what might happens, and even now I will not leave chances to let my char die or let anyone die, its better be prepared than sorry.

[Dragonstrike]

Hmmmm...I'm actually having some trouble deciding on who Nathan's sixth pokemon should be, tbh.

I'm thinking it'll be either Swiftfire/Charizard or Ditto.  Bringing two Fire types (since I definitely want at least one) means more firepower, but Ditto is potentially more versatile (it only has 2 Transform slots today due to its random transformations, though)

Any opinions on who I should bring, guys? Aside from Gallade and Calam, I'm looking at bringing a Fire type, Grid, and Porygon-Z.

[Spiritmon]

Hmmmm...I'm actually having some trouble deciding on who Nathan's sixth pokemon should be, tbh.

I'm thinking it'll be either Swiftfire/Charizard or Ditto.  Bringing two Fire types (since I definitely want at least one) means more firepower, but Ditto is potentially more versatile (it only has 2 Transform slots today due to its random transformations, though)

Any opinions on who I should bring, guys?  Aside from Gallade and Calam, I'm looking at bringing a Fire type, Grid, and Porygon-Z.

Well, that's a complicated decision. But I think Charizard and Ditto would be good options. Between Switfire or Charizard, Charizard it's one of your strongest fully evolved Pokemon. But maybe bring a fiery dragon in some stealth mission I don't think it's a wise choice. A fire horse maybe not better, but he have pretty good moves and can be mounted for better escape options so that's something.

Ditto like you say it's very much versatile and can help a lot with transformation skills. And can be used to stealth.

That's my opinion on the case.

[Dragonstrike]

Well, that's a complicated decision. But I think Charizard and Ditto would be good options. Between Switfire or Charizard, Charizard it's one of your strongest fully evolved Pokemon. But maybe bring a fiery dragon in some stealth mission I don't think it's a wise choice. A fire horse maybe not better, but he have pretty good moves and can be mounted for better escape options so that's something.

Ditto like you say it's very much versatile and can help a lot with transformation skills. And can be used to stealth.

That's my opinion on the case.

Lemme list some pros for each:

Swiftfire
- More instant power with Fire Blast and Inferno
- Coverage in Megahorn, Drill Run, and Poison Jab
- Fast with Flame Charge and Quick Attack
- Can trap with Fire Spin
- Mountable horse
- spread debuffing in Growl and Tail Whip

Charizard
- Blaze powers up all Fire moves he knows (but he needs to be at -2 Pain to get the most out of it)
- Coverage in Air Slash, Shadow Claw, and Dragon Claw
- Airborne mount (but it's not as relevant indoors)
- If used with Swiftfire, he can trigger her Flash Fire
- Can learn Scary Face, which is just as good as inflicting Paralysis if the foe can't/doesn't switch pokemon

Ditto
- Random Transformation is actually kinda useful
- can perfectly duplicate any pokemon it can see (copying most Surprises and all known moves)
- can turn into any pokemon it's seen from memory (but will instead only know moves that cost 40 exp or less for that species to learn in that case)
- Can turn into dusobedient species but retain its own 0 disobedience
- can turn into simple objects it can see